Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

Charles Elmer Dunn, 90, passed away peacefully on May 18, 2013. Commonly known as “Chuck” by friends and associates, he was “Grandpa Charley” to his family. A resident of Mountain View and Los Altos since 1946, Charley and his wife, Val, moved to California in 1943. He is survived by son Charles (Nancy) Dunn, Jr. of Los Altos and three beloved grandchildren: Jeffrey (Noelle) Dunn of Los Altos, Jennifer (Chris) Bridgman of Mountain View, and Jessica (Arnd) Geis of Santa Clara. He was the proud great-grandfather to six children, all under the age of four: Emilie, Christopher, Amelie, Tristan, Hunter and a baby boy due this fall. He is survived by a sister, Maxine Tucker of Arizona. He was predeceased by his loving wife and soul mate of 63 years, Yvonne Valerie Dunn, and his daughter, Carol Diane Dunn, who passed away in 1981 at the age of 21.

The second youngest of seven children, Charley was born on April 17, 1923 in Locust Grove, Oklahoma. His father (James Elmer Dunn; 1883-1926), passed away when Charley was just a toddler, and times were tough growing up in rural Oklahoma amidst the Great Depression. By age 13, Charley began leaving home to support himself, hitching rides on the railroad and sending money back home to his mother whenever he could. Despite having only an eighth-grade education, Charley’s work ethic, intelligence and charisma paid off. He found work as a ranch hand in Wyoming, a truck driver in Kentucky and Minnesota, and he even worked at the original McDonald’s hamburger stand in San Bernadino. Stories of his early adventures later captivated all who knew him, but his favorite story involved a chance encounter at a diner in Minnesota with the young woman who would later become his wife.

In 1943, Charley married the love of his life, Val. Their son, Charles Jr., was born while Charley was stationed on a destroyer in the Pacific during WWII. Following Charley’s discharge from the Navy, he began working in the automotive repair business, first at Tuban Ford in Sunnyvale, followed by Mancini Motors in Mountain View. In 1975, Charley opened Dunn’s Automotive in downtown Mountain View, which he continued to run well into his seventies. Charley worked hard, but he liked to play, too. In the 1980s and 1990s, his weekends were often spent with family and friends at his vacation home in Discovery Bay, where he enjoyed boating, barbecuing, fishing, playing cards, listening to country music and finding time for a good story or two. An avid golfer, Charley was a member of the Los Altos Golf & Country Club where he regularly met buddies for 18 (and sometimes 19) holes of golf.

Charley will be remembered for his kind heart and playful sense of humor. He was devoted to his family, and although he tended to spoil loved ones with gifts, it was his generosity of time that will be remembered most. “Grandpa Charley” was the ultimate grandfather. From overnight fishing trips with his grandson to playing “Beauty Parlor” with his granddaughters, he cultivated meaningful relationships with his grandchildren that continued to evolve over the course of three decades. We will miss the twinkle in his blue eyes and the soft-spoken drawl in his voice, but we take comfort in knowing he has moved on to a better place. Charley, thank you for showing us by example what it means to live a good, honest life with love in your heart. May you rest in peace.

A memorial service and celebration of Charley’s life will take place on Wednesday, May 29 at 10 am at Spangler Mortuary in Los Altos (399 S. San Antonio Rd, Los Altos). Following the burial at Alta Mesa Cemetery, a reception will be held at Charley’s home in Los Altos (address information to be provided at memorial service.)

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